CD Recording System for Angelle Hall

Transcription

1 ` University of Louisiana at Lafayette College of the Arts STEP Grant Request CD Recording System for Angelle Hall Robert Willey Asst. Professor, School of Music Joe Payne Graduate Assistant, School of Music Signature of Dean College of the Arts

2 Title: CD Recording System for Angelle Hall Date: January 19, 2008 Contact Person: Robert Willey Department: School of Music phone: ABSTRACT The auditorium in Angelle Hall is under heavy use for concerts by individual students and ensembles for recitals throughout the school year. Staffing limitations and lack of equipment prevent good quality recordings from being produced. Many events are not recorded at all, and those that are recorded often are of unsatisfactory quality. This grant proposes the purchase and installation of a good quality recording system that will be easy to set up, and which will integrate with what is already in the facility. This will make it easy for the person running an event to make a CD for the performers, and virtually guarantee that it will be a good quality recording. Concert recordings provide vital feedback, giving students an opportunity to study and reflect on their performance, thereby speeding up their development.

3 Budget Proposal Length of Implementation [1] 2 3 (in years) 1. Equipment Shure VP88 microphone $700 M/S Stereo microphone. This microphone will be easy to set up and will capture the nuances and feel of the auditorium environment. K-Tek K-GPS Suspension Mount $150 Connect the microphone to cabling running to ceiling above Microphone cabling $300 XLR connectors $50 Miscellaneous hardware $50 2. Software None 3. Supplies Blank CD media (400) $ Maintenance Maintenance will be done by regular auditorium staff 5. Personnel None 6. Others Total: $1,350

4 3. Description of Proposal a. Purpose of Grant and the Impact to Student Body as a Whole Better quality recordings will help music students get an idea of how well they are doing, and increase their satisfaction being able to study what they have done, and to share it with colleagues, family, and friends. Recordings are also important support material for applications to graduate school and jobs. The dedicated microphone cables that presently run from above the Angelle Hall auditorium stage to its control booth have deteriorated to the point that it is too weak to use for recording anymore. Instead of suspending the microphones, recordings are currently done by putting microphones on stands on the ground, but these stands usually cannot be placed in an optimum sonic location on stage because they would interfere with the audience s view, or be in the way of the performers. Instead they are put with the audience and pick up coughing, conversation, and other sounds, and the signal from the stage is not as clear as it could be. The best arrangement would be to suspend a single stereo microphone over the conductor. This would be out of the way of the audience s view, and be easy to raise for events for which it would be in the way (i.e. of scenery), and lower again for the next concert. The proposed system with its dedicated stereo processor is also much less susceptible to operator error, making it simple for the student working in the booth to make a good quality recording on the existing CD burner in the auditorium booth. Easy set up means that it will be possible to do for any event, and simple operation implies that good quality results will be obtained whenever the system is turned on. Copies of concerts will be put in itunes in our Resource Center and available for listening throughout the building, information on the compositions and performances entered into a searchable database. This will allow students to listen to their performances, and for teachers to use the recordings as examples in music theory and history courses. b. Lifetime of Enhancement The equipment and installation should last for more than 5 years. c. Person(s) Responsible for implementation, installation, maintenance, operation, and training Dr. Robert Willey teaches music media and manages the studios and laboratories in the School of Music. He and Joe Payne, his graduate assistant, will train students working in the auditorium how to use the equipment to make recordings of concerts.

5 d. Details of Proposal s Budgeted Categories. 4. Budget Proposal Form. See Budget Proposal above. 5. Timeline - Project Implementation Schedule Spring, 2008: Secure funding, install microphones, run cables, test system, begin to use for concerts. Create method for archiving copies of the recordings in the School of Music Resource Center, thereby making them available for students to study the performances and/or compositions. Fall, 2008: Relocate position from which microphone is hanging if necessary. Continue archiving, create searchable database.

6 6. Additional Information Most School of Music concerts currently not being recorded. Concerts, especially those required for degrees, should be recorded and archived for accreditation purposes. Loss of accreditation would reduce the value of a music degree from UL Lafayette.

7 7. Previously funded STEP Projects Robert Willey (School of Music) "School of Music Resource Center Upgrade" (7/07), co-investigator, new computer study stations, software, $21,638 "School of Music Pro Tools Recording System" (7/06), major renovation of recording studio facility creating professional 24-track digital audio recording system, $41,338. "School of Music Resource Center Upgrade" (7/06), software to create web sites, piano instruction, software, wireless connectivity, administration software, ethernet cabling, Reason synthesis software, $4,657. "School of Music Resource Center Upgrade" (1/06), upgrade software and hardware, $6,055. School of Music Resource Center Upgrade" (7/05), upgrade software and hardware, $4,055. Resource Center Upgrade (1/04), upgrade workstations, server, video transfer, add DVD authoring, $4,902.